3 days ago
Swift News
U.S. President Donald Trump signalled Friday that he may not reach a deal with Canada, suggesting the northern neighbour will “just pay tariffs.” “We haven’t really had a lot of luck with Canada,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “I think Canada could be one where they’ll just pay tariffs, not really a negotiation.” Trump made the remarks while discussing other trade deals that had been reached with countries ahead of his Aug. 1 deadline. The remarks come just a day after Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters he was feeling “encouraged” following meetings with both Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and American lawmakers. However, LeBlanc had also suggested a new economic and security deal would not be signed before Aug. 1. “Canadians expect us to take the time necessary to get the best deal we can in the interest of Canadian workers,” LeBlanc said. So how would Canadians react if there is no deal? It may be one of two opinions, said Drew Fagan, a professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. “So there’ll be some Canadians who will say, ‘Well, of course we couldn’t get a deal, look at what he was demanding’ when you think about the issue of sovereignty,” he said. “There’s be other Canadians who’ll say, ‘This is a problem because of the continuing economic uncertainty and the addition of tariffs.’” Trump sent letters to multiple nations, including Canada, earlier this month saying if no deal is made by Aug. 1, high tariffs on imports would be imposed. Canada already has a trade agreement with the U.S. in the form of the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement that took effect in 2020 and which was negotiated with Trump during his first presidency.
